Viggo stars as Frank T. Hopkins, a star of Wild Bill's Wild West show and endurance race champion who travels to Arabia with his mustang Hidalgo to compete in a 3,000 mile long race across the desert for a $100,000 purse. Set in 1890, the story is somewhat based on actual events; Hopkins competed into his 60s and allegedly won more than 400 long-distance endurance races, remaining a strong advocate for the preservation and protection of wild mustangs in the US.